Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) Shares Acquired by Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd

Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd lifted its position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) by 4.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 125,455 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,352 shares during the quarter. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd’s holdings in Accenture were worth $44,216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ACN. Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Accenture in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Annapolis Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Accenture by 507.7% in the 1st quarter. Annapolis Financial Services LLC now owns 79 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Accenture in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Accenture during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC increased its holdings in Accenture by 267.9% in the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 103 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 75.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total value of $1,649,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 8,989 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Ellyn Shook sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $329.82, for a total transaction of $1,649,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,989 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,964,751.98. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Melissa A. Burgum sold 458 shares of Accenture stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $373.25, for a total value of $170,948.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 9,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,649,265.25. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,548 shares of company stock valued at $5,585,938 over the last three months. 0.07% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Accenture Stock Down 0.2 %

ACN traded down $0.65 during trading on Monday, hitting $376.21. 687,903 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,729,297. Accenture plc has a 1-year low of $278.69 and a 1-year high of $387.51. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $345.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $321.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $235.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.51, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 1.25.

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The information technology services provider reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.78 by $0.01. Accenture had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 26.83%. The company had revenue of $16.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.71 earnings per share. Accenture’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Accenture plc will post 12.79 EPS for the current year.

Accenture declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 1.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Accenture Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $1.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $5.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. This is a positive change from Accenture’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. Accenture’s payout ratio is presently 54.21%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on ACN shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Accenture from $376.00 to $370.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Accenture from $365.00 to $388.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Accenture from $350.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 27th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Accenture from $377.00 to $389.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler Companies reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $329.00 target price on shares of Accenture in a report on Friday, September 20th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Accenture presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $371.18.

About Accenture

Accenture plc, a professional services company, provides strategy and consulting, industry X, song, and technology and operation services worldwide. The company offers application services, including agile transformation, DevOps, application modernization, enterprise architecture, software and quality engineering, data management; intelligent automation comprising robotic process automation, natural language processing, and virtual agents; and application management services, as well as software engineering services; strategy and consulting services; data and analytics strategy, data discovery and augmentation, data management and beyond, data democratization, and industrialized solutions comprising turnkey analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions; metaverse; and sustainability services.